Apache2 on our PS/3

We did it, we got Apache2 running on our PS/3 console running under Yellowdog Linux.

PHP 5.2.3 is next, MySQL is already installed but we are also looking at PostgreSQL also. From there we are going to install the Cell SDK.

So far the added functionality of a Web server and development platform is nice. The PS/3 is much more than a game console and can easily double as a solid linux computer and all of the power Linux provides for.

I also installed Apache2 on our Mac (PPC and Intel) units, all in the terminal through a series of Unix/Linux standard line-commands (gzip, ./configure, make, make install, etc.)

iPhone revisited.

This is cool.

"www.wulf-pack.net"

Well I got the domain "www.wulf-pack.net" with the hyphen (-). I checked out the hosting service Guildhome they have PHP installed on their servers so they should work out for us.

They said it should be up and ready in 12 hours, we will ftp some php test pages and design this site in real time.

Our concept for the Wulf-Pack is simply a place where we can educate and demo new games our students design and show boat them for all to see.

Linux Apache MySQL & PHP (LAMP) segment.

I will take some time to go into PHP as much as possible. As we are setting up a PHP server both on our Macs and the PS/3 (Linux Yellowdog).

Our current technologies allow for some very power full tools to be developed. PHP v5.0+ is what we are working on. Yahoo uses PHP so scalability seems like a sure bet.

You can run PHP on what ever platform you have (Windows, Linux and Mac), the Windows version is very easy to install, Linux and Macs are more involved (but for all the right reasons). We are going to run this PHP experiment on our PS/3 on the Yellowdog partition and our personal Macs. One old (but stable) 17" PowerBookG4 and our black 15" Mac Book with the new Intel chipset.

We may do a Video demo for a Linux, Mac and Windows install in the future.

But this is the core of what we are dealing with

Linux, the Operating System
Apache, the Server
MySQL, the Database
PHP, the Browser scripting language

Linux
Yes Linux, don't be intimidated Linux has come a long way and can be hardened quite well. The operating system is quite versatile, but can be overwhelming. Their are various "flavors" of Linux, we are using Yellowdog Linux and Fedora Linux. There may be better "flavors" but for demonstrative purposes we will be working with just those two. Yes, Mac is included based on BSD so officially its UNIX.

Apache
The core web server provides the functionality for many scripting common language interfaces support mod_perl, mod_python, Tcl, and PHP. Popular authentication modules include mod_access, mod_auth, and mod_digest. A sample of security features include SSL and TLS support (mod_ssl), a proxy module, a useful URL rewriter (also known as a rewrite engine, implemented under mod_rewrite), custom log files (mod_log_config), and filtering support (mod_include and mod_ext_filter).

MySQL
The database to store ID_NUMBER, NAME, etc. anything from the price of the widget, the the amount of widgets in stock, the colour of the widget, etc.

PHP
The scripting language

N93 & N95 Development to port to PS/3?

This market is very hot. The N95 (and N93) has onboard OpenGL, meaning that games developed for these (devices) have an easier time to port to PS/3 consoles.

The OpenGL ES-CM 1.1 is running on Symbian OS 9.2, S60 rel. 3.1 operating system.

Here is a link for the stats of OpenGL. This is a very nice feature for the more advanced cellular devices. Mobile gamming is a very hot area. More people can afford cell phones over high-end PCs or expensive game consoles.

The nice thing about the N95 is the Bluetooth capability, WiFi capability and a capability to become its own AP (access point), this is a beautifull beast.



Key Points to game development on N95 mobile phones.

• MESSAGING: built in SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
• BROWSER: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
  
• BLUETOOTH: Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
• WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
• IR: Yes (lazy geeks remote)

More to come on our development.

Cryptophone, the wiretapping work around?

Phones are now a target for no holds barred, unrestricted compromise by the governmental agencies. With the new laws of Homeland Security, citizens are forced to resolve their communication methodologies by looking on the other side of the pond.

In Germany, a company called Cryptophone

Right off the back I liked that all of their source would be freely available to the customer.

I was very interested in the CryptoPhone 220

So what do we have hear?

Secures your voice's privacy.

Strong and secure algorithms AES256 and Twofish, 4096 bit Diffie-Hellman key exchange with SHA256 hash function, Readout-hash based key authentication, Encryption key is destroyed immediately after the call ends, Source code available online for independent security assessments.

Works in any 900/1800/1900 GSM network (AT&T, T-Mobile for the yanks), etc. that provides data call facilities.

Only problem is no Mac or Linux support and apparently only runs on Windows CE.

They reason this by explaining:

"CryptoPhone mobile phones run on top of a heavily modified and stripped-down Microsoft
Windows Mobile for Pocket PC/Smartphone ROM. The reason is that we wanted an affordable and well researched platform that offered sufficient performance for the speech encoding and crypto functions.A Pocket PC based system was chosen as the first platform for CryptoPhone because it was the only sufficiently fast device allowed us to do software integrity protection in ROM and the stripping of unnecessary functions."

They go on to say...

"The only commercially available alternative at the time of the necessary development decision was Symbian. Symbian is even more closed source (Windows CE is open source for developers in most parts) and was available only on a more expensive hardware platform. There was (and still is) no viable mass-market Embedded Linux based hardware with sufficient performance, stability, hardware integration and availability on the market at decision time, so we were not able to pursue this alternative."

Well, I will admit to this that Symbian is much more locked down than Windows CE. I have personal experience with trying to deal with Nokia and they make it extremely difficult to get *any* development information from them without paying for the privilege to even see their (non-updated) APIs.

As far as no Linux mass market, I firmly disagree. It is bigger than what they think, its just so "open" that nobody has approached the right manufactures with the right hardware specs to accommodate the lack of sufficient performance, stability, hardware integration.

But yes, Linux, is in its infancy not for being one of the oldest Operating Systems, but more to the fact of commercial refinement and ultimatly corporate acceptance.

And the price, oh yes, of course, the price...

You see, the Devil, is in the details and the Devil, apparently doesn't keep the those details on his web site. You have to goto through Hell to get them. I am still waiting for word on my last query.

PS/3 R&D for free?

This is absolutely fantastic, and truly awesome. I have taken allot of flack from my friends over getting the PS/3. My argument was that, when utilized correctly, the system itself doubles as a cell development platform.

Yes, the system needs some "improvement" as far as the mitigating details on how to install, setup and configure the CELL SDK for the Yellowdog Linux operating system, but Insomniac has put their R&D notes out on the World Wide Web for anybody that wants to have a clue to have one.

Now thus far the only game (of Halo quality) I have seen out for the PS/3 is the Fall of Man series. They have tackled the tough challenges the PS/3 has need of developers to master.

In the CEO's own words;
"our current research and development in hopes of supporting the PS3 development community and enhancing overall development for its core technologies such as the CELL processor and RSX."

This is very encouraging for the development of future games, the "stand on the back of giants" method of R&D is a smart one. I would encourage everybody to check out their R&D notes their are no doubt issues they already tackled that will save future headaches for development of PS/3 games.